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Home News IGN Posts Review, Gets Called Out by Dev, Edits Review [Update]

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IGN Posts Review, Gets Called Out by Dev, Edits Review [Update]

Posted on Thursday, October 27 @ 00:11:22 Eastern by Heath_Hindman



In my opinion, a reviewer should complete a game and try to experience as much of it as possible. Details of this rule of mine can come later, over tea and cakes, but what brings this up is IGN's review of PixelJunk SideScroller. Maybe the pressure of scowling bosses and quick deadlines made this reviewer crack and take the easy way out -- or rather, easy way through, as the case may be.

The review is here, but it's had some cosmetic surgery following a callout by Q-Games president Dylan Cuthbert, which insisted that the reviewer "rushed through the game on casual". Reviewer Daemon Hatfield initially denied the accusation and insisted he beat the game on Normal difficulty, but Cuthbert countered that if he had done so, the "last epic stage" would have been unlocked, which contradicted Hatfield's review comments. The review then had a portion reviewed, presumably as a sort of damage control.

See below.

Twitter pic 1: Check mate


Twitter pic 2: Aftermath


Twitter pic 3: The cold hard proof, so cold and definitely hard (click image to enlarge)





Was IGN right or wrong? Does it even matter? Let us know below or on Faceblog and Twittweet or whatever you kids do with your telephones these days.

[Via]

[Update] Daemon Hatfield has released a blog insisting he's done nothing at all wrong, and is restoring the removed text from his review. He believes Dylan Cuthbert is just upset about his game receiving a low review score.


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Comments
  • TheJx4
    TheJx4
    Joined: Jun 2011
    Posted: Oct 26th, 2011 at 7:40 pm
    I hate when reviewers do things like that.
    or take points off for a game being too difficult, or too easy.
    0 0
  • 213EDD
    213EDD
    Joined: Sep 2007
    Posted: Oct 26th, 2011 at 7:47 pm
    Lol, I was just about to send this to one of you guys
    0 0
  • LawnGnome
    LawnGnome
    Joined: Apr 2007
    Posted: Oct 26th, 2011 at 8:32 pm
    I've seen plenty of reviews for games I've played where I thought "Well he didn't even play the game correctly". But for this PixelJunk game? Let's file it under "who the hell cares?".
    1 1
  • TheJx4
    TheJx4
    Joined: Jun 2011
    Posted: Oct 26th, 2011 at 8:42 pm
    I haven't even played one. They don't seem interesting.
    1 0
  • Daddio
    Daddio
    Joined: Nov 2008
    Posted: Oct 26th, 2011 at 8:32 pm
    IGN is crap. We get it. There's a reason why I only view this site for game reviews, and that's so I don't have to bother paying attention to **** like IGN.
    0 1
  • De-Ting
    De-Ting
    Joined: Nov 2006
    Posted: Oct 26th, 2011 at 8:35 pm
    What a twitter.
    0 2
  • tinymhg
    tinymhg
    Joined: Jun 2011
    Posted: Oct 26th, 2011 at 9:29 pm
    IGN is owned by News Corporation the people who own Fox News Channel. So no surprise to me that this happened there.
    0 2
  • Bras
    Bras
    Joined: Jul 2008
    Posted: Oct 26th, 2011 at 10:18 pm
    Well it wasn't as bad as I had imagined from the headline.
    Sure he edited the review, but he didn't do so to give it a higher score or alter his perception about the game. If YOU! are really interested in the story, click on the link and on the link inside the link where it says "Click here to find out why" and read it.

    I don't read IGN reviews but I don't think this should void all their credibility. Other things might though.

    And I'm sleepy after reading the review, good night.
    0 0
  • danielrbischoff
    danielrbischoff
    Joined: Nov 2009
    Posted: Oct 26th, 2011 at 10:30 pm
    Bwahahahaha! Fuck IGN.
    0 2
  • Ranim
    Ranim
    Joined: Nov 2005
    Posted: Oct 26th, 2011 at 10:30 pm
    GR and GT are the only two places that I take reviews seriously, everything else I have to take with a grain of salt.
    0 1
  • Eddy_DS_Fettig
    Eddy_DS_Fettig
    Joined: Jul 2011
    Posted: Oct 26th, 2011 at 10:35 pm
    Sad fact is that our industry isn't as transparent about the conditions under which a game is reviewed. I wish it was, but by now everyone's built up unreasonable expectations about the conditions under which games "should" be reviewed that if everyone didn't do it, whoever WAS honest would possibly make themselves look bad.
    0 2
  • Eddy_DS_Fettig
    Eddy_DS_Fettig
    Joined: Jul 2011
    Posted: Oct 26th, 2011 at 10:36 pm
    Note: I'm speaking from experience in things I tried while writing for GoNintendo, now that I think of it.
    0 0
  • C_nate
    C_nate
    Joined: Apr 2009
    Posted: Oct 26th, 2011 at 10:57 pm
    The whole game review industry is pretty sad now. Game companies use all kinds of shady tactics to ensure they get a strong review right out of the gate which is why I take most reviews with a grain of salt. It takes a bit longer for word of mouth to spread if a game is good or bad, but I've taken to reading reviews by regular shlubs like myself.

    Metacritic is still the best place I know to do this but it's getting harder to find the useful reviews in between the trolls and hurt fans of a previous title rating something a 0 (a zero means a game is broken and unplayable, no game should be a 0) and fanboys and company plants rating it a 10 (a 10 means flawless and perfect and no game ever has been flawless and perfect.) I've even been known to write a review or two myself when I'm not being such a lazy ass.
    0 0
  • C_nate
    C_nate
    Joined: Apr 2009
    Posted: Oct 26th, 2011 at 11:09 pm
    One more thing I wanted to touch on(and I'm far from the only one who has noticed this), was that the scoring system for games is so out of whack now that the entire scale has shifted. On a scale of 0 to 100, 50 is obviously the average. But in game industry land, your game getting a 50 might as well be a death sentence. Everything has to be 70+ and even that is starting to shift more to 75+ for a game to be considered worthy or being purchased. But that 70 to 75 is now the new "average."

    Like that other article about the death of AA and A titles, your game has to be a AAA blockbuster rated 90+ or it might as well be dogshit. It makes no sense and what it means for the future of games, I have no idea.
    0 0
  • tinymhg
    tinymhg
    Joined: Jun 2011
    Posted: Oct 26th, 2011 at 11:20 pm
    Thank God for the Indy game developers.
    0 0
  • Heath_Hindman
    Heath_Hindman
    Joined: May 2011
    Posted: Oct 27th, 2011 at 1:03 am

    i43 (dot) tinypic (dot) com (slash) 2drhg5.png

    ^ Pretty much this.
    0 0
  • WILLS_COOL_MODE
    WILLS_COOL_MODE
    Joined: Oct 2010
    Posted: Oct 27th, 2011 at 1:07 am
    I do agree with your general pount, but to be fair, 7-7.5 is most definitely average on a number scale. Even look at school, if you get 50%, yeah you have passed but you're still dumb as hell. Most kids get 70 to 75%, and for good reason. 50% is only half of ten, which in gaming means the game is only doing half of the things it tries to do properly, and let's be honest, a game like that sucks.

    I would also like to take this opportunity to say this is the only site I read reviews on anymore, and 90% of the time I either read a review of a game I have played and find it to be dead on or I'll read a review before buying a game and find that everything mentioned was entirely accurate. I was honestly pretty skeptical when the mass staff overhaul took place but you guys are doing an excellent job.
    0 0
  • WILLS_COOL_MODE
    WILLS_COOL_MODE
    Joined: Oct 2010
    Posted: Oct 27th, 2011 at 1:09 am
    Well actually, WILLS_COOL_MODE, 50% is half of 100% but I definitely agree with the rest of your comment, just absolutely spot on stuff there bud.
    0 0
  • Eduardo_Reboucas
    Eduardo_Reboucas
    Joined: Dec 2008
    Posted: Oct 27th, 2011 at 3:45 am
    That really is unfortunate. Why rush through a game, especially a shooter that is probably really short to begin with?
    0 0
  • lifewish
    lifewish
    Joined: Jun 2011
    Posted: Oct 27th, 2011 at 7:56 am
    now he is calling out the developer, saying they are just upset HAHA classic loserism
    0 3
  • Doc_Holliday
    Doc_Holliday
    Joined: Nov 2005
    Posted: Oct 27th, 2011 at 9:16 am
    IGN is a joke, and the updated stance of the reviewer, that he claims he's done nothing wrong, is really the nail in the proverbial cross.

    You are paid to review a game, then you beat it on EZ mode, claim you beat it on a harder difficulty, then lie about it when you are called out. This is a travesty to all hard working game reviewers.

    This guy should literally be let go. You're being paid to play video games and you're taking the easy road? Blow me IGN.
    0 1
  • Paulmichael
    Paulmichael
    Joined: Oct 2010
    Posted: Oct 27th, 2011 at 11:36 am
    Who the hell reviews a game on Easy? At least do Normal, which implies that it is as the developer envisioned the game being played.
    0 1
  • Moose-On-Fire
    Moose-On-Fire
    Joined: Oct 2011
    Posted: Oct 27th, 2011 at 10:47 pm
    It seems I disagree with everyone here. The whole point of this article is to criticise Daemon Hatfield on the basis that he only completed the game on easy. Yet he has twice iterated that he played through on both easy and normal. The president of Q-Games, Dylan Cuthbert, essentially accused him of lying on the basis that his review neglected to mention a sequence unlocked when the game is completed on normal. When challenged, Hatfield responded in his blog that he did encounter a brief scene announcing that he had unlocked hard mode, but that he considered it insignificant at the time. Cuthbert has not responded to Hatfield's blog to confirm or deny this was the sequence he was referring to.

    In short, it seems incredibly hypocritical for GR to criticise the journalistic integrity of Daemon Hatfield, without having any concrete evidence to support such an accusation. I also note with some amusement that a critical passage in the original GR article has since been edited out.
    0 0
  • danielrbischoff
    danielrbischoff
    Joined: Nov 2009
    Posted: Oct 30th, 2011 at 6:50 pm
    Enlighten us. What was edited out?
    0 0

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